From the forums: The 'us' edition

You guys and gals have been kicking so much arse in our forums lately, we decided it was time to clean up our act a bit to keep up. And so, we did. Now, when you visit forum.androidcentral.com, you'll find it's easier than ever to find what you're looking for, be it the latest discussions regarding your phone, apps, hacks, rumors, you name it.

Kyocera Zio now available on Cricket

The Sanyno Zio from Kyocera is the first Android phone available to Cricket Wireless customers. The Zio features a 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen, 3G web browsing, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a 3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder, MP3 capabilities with a MicroSD slot, and 512MB internal memory. The Zio will launch with Android 1.6 with 2.1 not too far down the road. The phone retails for $249.99 and gets its own $55 Android service plan which includes nationwide talk, text, email, web, mms, Android Market access and international capabilities that come with a fee. You can see the Zio in our hands-on from CTIA here.[Cricket]

X-10 Mini, Mini Pro now in color -- outside looks better than inside

Sony Ericsson has announced earlier this month that the X10 Mini, and the X10 Mini Pro will soon be available in new colors. The Mini, (right) will be available with a gold shell, while the Mini Pro (left) will feature a pink sliding case. I'll tell anyone within earshot that I'm not 100 percent sure I like the trend to giant phones, and these sure do look nice. Too bad they only updated the case colors -- both the Mini and Mini Pro still run Android 1.6.

For what it's worth, the new colors should be available next month, and an update to Android 2.1 sometime before hell freezes over in Q4 of this year. SE -- we love your phones. They feel great, and have excellent call quality. Please realize that we Android fans need the OS updates more than we need food, and make phones that look this hot run a current version of the software! [SEMC blog]

Hands-on with Android 2.2 on the Droid X

You know we couldn't help ourselves. When a leaked build of Android 2.2 for the Motorola Droid Xwas outed by My Droid World, we had to take it for a spin. You're not going to find too many UI changes over what you're used to on the X. (The lock screen's been changed, for what that's worth.) But there are a number of under-the-hood improvements (many of which we've covered in our Froyo Features series), and Adobe Flash 10.1 is on the ROM, which a lot of you have a hankering for. Let's take a look, after the break.

T-Mobile's G2 spotted in the wild

The HTC G2, which was officially announced by T-Mobile a few days ago, has been spotted in the wild. The follow-up to the G1 will be very similar to the soon-to-be released HTC Desire Z (aka the Vision), which was advertised on a mobile site yesterday.

The phone is likely going to be a 3.7-inch QWERTY device with a 1GHz processor. No word yet on which version of Android it will come with.

Also, T-Mobile has been hammering the fact that it will be the first HSPA+ phone, which is an exciting and enticing feature. Be sure to let us know if you see any more floating around out there. [Engadget]

Leaked Froyo for the Droid X emerges

Remember that leaked build of Android 2.2 for the Droid X that was teased yesterday? P3droid at My Droid World has set it free in the wild, for those of you who want to give it a go. Unless you've got a really bad jones for the JIT, you might just wanna stay patient and wait out the official over-the-air update. And you're going to have to be back at stock to get things to work, so be sure to follow the instructions, m'kay? [My Droid World]

HTC Desire on Vodafone to receive Froyo update on Monday

The HTC Desire started receiving its OTA Froyo update at the beginning of August, but users on Vodafone have been growing impatient. Word has come from the mobile carrier that the update will start to roll out on Monday, August 23.

The wait was longer, according to the Vodafone rep, because:

Our priority has been to make sure that the software does what we said it will do. This meant testing took a little longer than anticipated.

The rep also said that the update will be a gradual roll-out over two weeks, so if you don't get yours on Monday, look for it in the coming days. The more phones updating to Froyo the better, so this is great news; even if it did take a little longer. [Vodafone forums] Thanks, D.

Another beta version of Tweetdeck for Android released

Tweetdeck released its open beta last week and has been very well received. They released a new version Thursday with increased functionality and blogged about how well the client has done since its release.

According to the blog, the Tweetdeck team was swarmed with 20,000 requests for its first release. These are not idle users who download an app just to say they have it, it's being used -- a lot, saying:

"Even though we haven't officially released the app yet, TweetDeck Android is generating more tweets and status updates than our 3 month old iPad app."

Now that's impressive. This release brings changes to the app that includes:

A new column setting page (users may now set individual columns with notifications, sound and vibrate, and LED flashing)

A "share" intent now has been added, so whenever you click share in Android, Tweetdeck will be one of the options

Support for bit.ly

They also said that they are working to integrate even deeper with the Android OS. Expect many more functions as Tweetdeck matures.

Dell Thunder Android protoype gets a thorough hands on

While we drool over all the new phones we hear about, the Thunder prototype units the Engadget got their hands on are certainly near the top of the want list, and they're sharing a really nice preview of what's to come. Ever since we first heard about the Thunder back in April, the curved glass screen and sleek styling have stood out and even though these are just prototype units, they sure look good.

We do know it has a Snapdragon clocked at 1 Ghz, 802.11n, 8 MP camera (with flash), and a 1400 mAh battery, but things like the final screen resolution and version of Android are still up in the air.

Sprint Epic 4G initial impressions and hands-on video

The Sprint Epic 4G is the third of the Samsung Galaxy S-class phones to be released in the United States. And it comes with a few additions over its already-released cousins, the AT&T Captivate and T-Mobile Vibrant. Initial thoughts and hands-on video are after the break, folks.

Froyo for Droid X leaked; can't be too long now

Last we heard about the Motorola Droid X getting some Froyo, the date of "early summer" and "by early September" were being thrown around. That might be about to change, as a forum poster on My Droid World seems to have gotten his hands on the DX's Froyo release. In addition to posting some pictures, he goes on to promise that the update is "less than 24hrs away." Now, this is completely unconfirmed by anyone, and we have seen many-a rumored Froyo release date on Verizon come and pass sans update, so take this with a healthy dose of skepticism.

That said, we won't blame any of you Droid X users if you mash on the "System Updates" button (Menu > Settings > About Phone FYI) throughout the day. Just try not do get your hopes up too much, ok? As a DInc owner, I know the feeling far too well. Check out another picture past the link. [My Droid World] Thanks, Josh!

Droid Pro is a Droid 2 with global support; LG enV2 Touch to be Android-powered

The not so secret Droid Pro now is said to be a Droid 2 with GSM and CDMA radios inside -- aka a "World Phone," according to an Engadget tipster. No word on a price point yet, though, it is safe to presume that a similar device with global capabilities will probably cost you a little more than $200 with a two year contract (plus whatever happens on the data side). In terms of release, Engadget's source is claiming that we should see it within the next few weeks.

If one inside tip wasn't enough, there is also word of LG releasing a successor to the popular LG enV Touch; named, well -- you probably already guessed it -- the LG enV Touch 2. Quite a mouthful, eh? Unlike its orginal make, this enV will be preloaded with Android 2.1 and will rock two touch screens -- with full QWERTY keyboard. And if one global Android device wasn't enough this holiday, the enV Touch 2 is also to be a global device. [Engadget]

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